Mumbai Indians thrashed UP Warriors by 72 runs in the Eliminator here on Friday, following a brilliant batting performance from Natalie Sciver Brunt (72 not out) and a maiden hat-trick from fast bowler Issy Wong (4/15) of the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL). Entered the final of the tournament in which they will face Delhi Capitals. Mumbai Indians posted a challenging 182 for four after being put into bat by Siever Brunt’s half-century studded with nine fours and two sixes.
In response to this target, the team of UP Warriors got reduced to 110 runs in 17.4 overs. The team had to bear the brunt of poor performance in fielding and shot selection of the batsmen. For that only Kiran Navgire was able to face the bowlers of Mumbai Indians. He played a quickfire inning of 43 runs in 27 balls with four fours and three sixes. But no other batsman could score more than 20 runs. For Mumbai Indians, Wong created history in his third and team’s 13th over by claiming the wickets of Navgire, Simran Sheikh and Sophie Eccleston in three consecutive balls to claim his first hat-trick of the tournament.
Apart from them, Saika Ishaq took two wickets for 24 runs while Siever Brunt, Hayley Mathews and Jintimani Kalita got one wicket each. Earlier, Siever Brunt took full advantage of the life he got during his 38-ball innings. When she was on six, Eccleston (2/39) dropped Rajeshwari Gaikwad’s catch at mid-off. UP Warriors looked in control for the first 10 overs at the DY Patil Stadium thanks to their spin bowlers, as none of the Mumbai batsmen could play a big innings except for Siever Brunt.
Right-handed batsman Siever Brunt stood firm at one end, adding 60 runs for the fourth wicket with Amelia Kerr (29 off 19 balls, five fours) to help extend the innings. Mumbai Indians put up a challenging score of 78 from overs five to 15 and then added 66 runs in the last five overs. The likes of Yastika Bhatia (21), Hayley Mathews (26) and Harmanpreet Kaur (14) could not convert starts into big innings as UP Warriors dominated. Bhatia hit a four off the first ball of the match, looking in good form but was dismissed by Anjali Saravani (1/17) in the fifth over.
The wicket-keeper batsman from Mumbai added 31 runs for the first wicket with Mathews. Mathews hit the first six of the match by reaching Grace Harris’ ball to deep square leg. In the powerplay, Mumbai Indians scored 46 runs for one wicket. Mathews and Siver Brunt were leading the innings. UP Warriors vice-captain Deepti Sharma had almost broken the partnership in the ninth over when Sarwani took a low catch at deep square leg but the third umpire ruled in favor of Mathews as replays showed the ball had hit the ground. had touched
But UP Warriors didn’t have to wait long for their second wicket as 16-year-old Parshvi Chopra got Mathews (26 balls, two fours, one six) caught at long on on her first ball in the 10th over. Siever Brunt stepped up the attack on the rival team, hitting Chopra for two fours and a six in the 12th over. Mumbai completed their 100 runs in the next over and lost the wicket of captain Harmanpreet (14 runs). Eccleston bowled him. Lakshya’s pressure on UP Warriors showed from the start and it didn’t get off to a good start.
The team had lost three wickets for 21 runs. Shweta Sehrawat was the first player to be dismissed. Captain Alyssa Healy was able to play only six balls when Harmanpreet was caught by Wong. The run out of Tahlia McGrath (07) was very disappointing for the team. Then with the arrival of Navagire, a little hope arose. He and Grace Harris (14 runs) added 20 runs in the sixth over.
With this, the team scored 46 runs for three wickets in the powerplay. But Harris soon fell victim to Siever Brunt, ending a 22-ball 35-run partnership between her and Navagire. Navagire hit Amelia Kerr for two sixes and a four in the 12th over, scoring 19 runs in this over. But after this Wong’s charismatic bowling showed amazing and ensured the victory of Mumbai Indians.
